Surya Suryadi is a Lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

More information about Surya Suryadi

PhD research

PhD defence: 16 December 2014

The Cultural Significance of the Regional Recording Industry in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Supervisor: Ben Arps

His research interests are in oral traditions and literacy, national and regional literary life in Indonesia, and ethnic cultural phenomena and media in Indonesia. His field research focuses on Sumatra. He has received grants from several national and international foundations to carry out research on to oral traditions and local culture in West Sumatra, namely from the Toyota Foundation (1992/93), the Ford Foundation (1994), and ATL (the Oral Tradition Association) (1995). He spent eight months (from February to August 1998) in Manila, the Philippines, for a course in Tagalog language at the University of the Philippines, Quezon City, under the sponsorship of the Toyota Foundation and the Japan Foundation Asia Centre, Tokyo.

Suryadi joined the VA|AVMI programme of CNWS Leiden University from 1 April 1999 until 1 December 2001 as a parttime research fellow. The result was published as “The ‘Talking Machines’ Comes to The Dutch East Indies’, with partly funding by Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO).

Current projects

2008-2010
“Locating, documenting and digitising: preserving the endangered manucripts of the legacy of the Sultanate of Buton, South-Eastern Sulawesi Province, Indonesia”, awarded by the Endangered Archives Programme, the British Library.

2009
“Malay Letters as Legacies of the Local Kingdoms on the Island of Sumbawa, Indonesia”, awarded by Brill Fellowship Scaliger Institute, Leiden University Library

CV

1998 - …
Lecturer of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia and Oceania, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.

1994-1998
Lecturer of the Faculty of Letters, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.

1991-1993
Lecturer of the Faculty of Letters, Universitas Bung Hatta, Padang, Indonesia and the Faculty of Letters, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia.

Teaching

Semester 1 (September 2024 – January 2025)

Semester 2 (February - June 2025)

PhD supervision

Leiden University

1. Shafa ‘Atussara Silahudin, Malay Singing in Pahang Riverine Villages: Identity and Practice, defence: Tuesday 18 May 2021, 16:15-17:00 (together with B. Arps)
2. Sudarmoko, Literary Infrastructure in West Sumatra, defence: Wednesday 26 May 2021, 11:15-12:00 (together with B. Arps).

MA theses under Suryadi’s supervision

2016
Ratih Dewi, Building the Ideal Citizen through Children: The New Order’s Doctrines in Indonesian Children Story Books. Master Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2016. (https://staff-studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/42250)

BA theses under Suryadi’s supervision

2010
Rhomayda Alfa Aimah. The four letters of appointment Bima-Manggarai (Or.396(44C)) – KITLV Leiden: a philological approach and historical context. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2010.

2011
Ni Nyoman Utari Pradnya Dewi. The letters of Karangasem: the analysis of the eight Karangasem letters, found in the Leiden University Library's collection. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2011.

2017
- Laura Gulpen. The position of Shi'is in Indonesia: the case of Sampang, Madura. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2017.
- Nerima Tahitu. The Benoa Bay Project: the embodiment of the power struggle between the Central Government and Bali. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2017.

2018
- Jacklyn Brugge. Online youth culture and the visual self-representation of adolescents. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2018.
- Maria van Leeuwen. Identity formation in Indonesia: Influences on traditional beauty ideals. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2018.

2019
- Koen de Hek. The fall of PKI and its impact on Javanese religions: From political support to historical burden.  BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2019.
- Rianne Tomasouw. Instagram and The Post-Islamism Spectrum: A Study of the role of the Post-Islamism in online identity-making by Indonesian influencers. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2019.

2022
Robert van der Hoeven. The safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in post-colonial Indonesia: Conflicts of universal practice, national pride and shared cultural heritage. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2022.

2023
Nur Sobari. The images of the Indische (Orang Indo) community in literature in late colonial Indonesia: a socio-historical analysis of De Paupers by Victor Ido (1915) and Salah Asoehan by Abdoel Moeis (1928). BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2023.

2024
Andy Fharose. Student Volunteerism, Corvée Labors, Behavioral Science, and Social Reproduction in Indonesia. BA South and Southeast Asian Studies thesis, Leiden University, 2024.

Ancillary activities

Reviewer for international journal Studia Islamika (https://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/studia-islamika/index).

Reviewer for international online journal Sage Open (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/sgo)

Reviewer for international journal Narrative Culture (https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/narrative/)

Publications